Footsteps to the Wedding
by feliipsun
Summary: No, this isn't about Toph and Sokka's wedding. It's Zuko and Mai's, and they invited all their friends to their wedding. Toph is walking from her house to Ember Island. Worried, Sokka insisted to come along with her. An adventure with romance and a little action. Tokka/Kataang/Maiko, broken Sukka. Rated T just in case.
1. The Marriage

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 1

"The Marriage"

* * *

Appa landed in the Bei Fong's garden. His huge tail swept the dirt off the ground. Three people climbed down from the bison, as one of them releasing a lemur from her hand. It flew to the tree nearby and ate the ripest fruit of all.

As the bald nomad helped his girlfriend got down from the beast, the ground shook. The three teenagers were flown up to the air. Luckily, there were a lot of bushes around them, and no one was hurt.

"Just like the first time we met, twinkletoes!" Toph said with a huge grin. She was wearing her usual long white petticoat dress, with a long sash, and a headband with flowers on it.

"Wow, you still remember that?" Aang patted his head.

"Of course! You three ambushed me in my own house! Who's going to forget that?"

"Well at least this time my face didn't hit the ground first. I guess this time I'm pretty lucky." Sokka tried to stand up.

"Ha! What luck?" answered Toph sarcastically.

"Oh Toph, it has been so long after we last saw you." said Katara as she hugged her.

"Yeah, it's like forever." Her brother continued. His hands lifted the blind girl off the ground.

"PUT ME DOWN! PUT. ME. DOWN. My feet can't see a thing!" she struggled. Her hands were waving in the air.

"Oh no! What a nightmare!" he replied. A huge smirk was formed at his face.

"Haha. So funny." She frowned. Sokka finally put her down, which seems like a bad decision, because he immediately received a punch at his ribs.

"Ah good old times," Katara gazed at the sky, "That line seems familiar, Sokka. Isn't that what she said when we're taking down the huge drill at Ba Sing Se?"

She gets a grin from the water tribe teenager as her answer.

"Come everyone," her tiny hand waved at them. Wind blew her clothes as she turned around and stepped into the house. "Oh, and don't worry about Appa, I've told my servants to take care of them."

"Okay Toph," answer Aang. He marched into the house along with Momo resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's that on your feet, meathead? Something made of metal?"

"Oh, this? Those are my braces. My leg was hurt at the last battle. You should've remembered it. You were with me and Suki that time."

"Right." Her face gloomed right after she heard that word. _Suki. Of course. That one lucky girl.  
_

* * *

A lady at her mid thirties came out from the kitchen. She's serving lunch for the honored guests in the dining room. A young man brought a jade green pot of tea, and poured it into their porcelain cups.

"Excuse me, good sir."

"Good sir?" a smile grown at Sokka's face, "I like this guy."

"Had I ever mentioned to you that you're tacky, snoozles?" the host replied.

Sokka squinted. He forked a big piece of roasted duck, took it into his mouth, and said in a high tone, "whatever."

There's a little silence after that. Aang is the first to break the ice by saying, "hey Toph, why didn't you reply my messages? Three months ago, I sent two letters and one last month!"

"What messages?" she raised her eyebrows and tilt her head aside. A confused look appeared at her face, "and why did you send me messages? I'm BLIND." She waved her left hand in front of her head.

"Well you can always make one of your maids to read them for you," Sokka suggested.

Katara ignored the young man and asked, "You mean… you didn't get any letter or messages from us?"

The avatar put some salad into his plate, "we sent you a letter saying that we're going to gather at your house today. And before that, Zuko sent all of us a letter to invite us to his wedding party."

"SPARKY IS GETTING MARRIED?" her chair was thrown backwards. She hit the table, hard. _Unbelievable_. She thought. Nobody told her before. Even Madame Chen, her main maid, who loves to gossip and tell her what happened around the world didn't say anything about her friend's marriage.

"Spirits. You really didn't get any of those, did you?" Katara gasped. "I bet you didn't even know that we're coming."

Toph shook her head. "Well you can come here anytime you want. My parents won't mind since you're my friends. But... Really? Goodness."

"Speaking of which, where are your parents?" Sokka asked. As his defense, he loves to question things because of his _"natural curiosity"._

"Gone for business trip or such, I don't know." She shrugged.

"The party is held at the end of next month. We're all invited. Even Katara's father is invited!" Aang even stood up to express his surprise.

His girlfriend glared at his statement, causing the silence of the avatar. "Aang is going to pick me and Sokka up at the southern water tribe, then get you and go straight to Zuko's palace a day before the wedding. Make sure you're ready, Toph. Don't make us wait-!"

"I won't." She shook her head.

"What do you mean by 'I won't'?" the water tribe girl slowly put her hands at her hips, trying to confirm what her friend just said.

"I won't ride Appa this time. Flying makes me sick, Katara. I've had enough headaches this whole time. And I can't see anything up there! I will not travel by air again."

"But you can't get to the palace by foot in a day, or even in a week!"

"Actually, she can." Her brother suddenly interrupted the girls' fight. He put his finger and traced his map, making some possible trips from Bei Fong's residence to the ember island. "You see, if she starts the journey any day of this week, she'll reach the place 3 days before the party, or even earlier. But she still has to ride on a boat or something to get to the location. Maybe just an hour or two, so don't worry."

"You're bringing that map this whole time?" it's pretty obvious that Aang is shocked to see him spread his map on the dining table.

Sokka raised his head, "actually just after you came to the South Pole and picked us up. We can't be sure you haven't forgotten Toph's house, right?" He got a punch at his hips. "Twinkletoes doesn't forget things easily like you, Ponytail." The air nomad grinned, agreeing her statement.

"Hey, I said 'just in case'!" Sokka defended himself.

Toph snorted, "No, you didn't."

"I did! Anyway you're not going there on foot ALONE, are you Toph?"

Yeah, you really shouldn't go there by yourself." Katara added. Aang nodded his head in agreement.

"Why? Because you think I can't handle myself?"

"No! Come on, you know we don't think of you that way. It's just… walking alone from the earth kingdom to the fire nation is dangerous!"

"So you think that I can handle myself, but can't handle bad people." She raised one of her eyebrows. She kicked the ground below her, trying to earthbend the avatar. Fortunately the avatar's light feet saved him.

"No no no! I mean…"

"I'll come with you." Sokka cut his friend's words.

"What?" the earth bender's eyes stared at Sokka. Well, at least she stared at where she thought the source of his voice was. His face did look serious this time. But going on foot with her for a month? That's questionable isn't it?

This time, Sokka's the one to stand up. "You heard me. I'll come with you. To the wedding. On foot."

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

Please enjoy this story. This is my first attempt to write in English after finishing several stories in my first language.

I promise the next chapters will be a lot longer.

**I've got a question, how many words would you like in each chapter? 500, 1000, 1500, or 3000? Or maybe even more? **Please answer. I'm a newbie here.

Dedicated for JustthisGuyYouKnow. You inspired me to write a Tokka fan fiction.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story.

Updated: thanks to JustThisGuyYouKnow, I had corrected my mistakes in the story and the summary. (Even in the summary. I really need to improve my english, aren't I?)

I would love to see more correction if I make other mistakes. :)

**UPDATE**: I compressed my stories. I combined every two chapters into one, but nothing changed in it though. :)


	2. Decisions and Secrets

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 2

"Decisions and Secrets"

* * *

"I'm not going to be guarded, especially by you, snoozles." She shook her head furiously and pointed her index finger at his face. Her feet stomped the floor, causing her house to shake a bit.

"I'm not guarding you. I will only accompany you until you reach the wedding location. That's all." Sokka stepped forward. _How can I convince this girl so I can come along with her?_

"No! I don't want any protection!"

"You can even pretend that I'm not there!"

"Whatever you say, you are NOT coming with me!"

"I'll bring your things too if you want to."

"I CAN BRING MY OWN THINGS!"

"I can cook for you! You can't eat cold canned foods for so long, right? You need cooked foods too! And that means you need to make fire."

_And I can't make fire. Good point, Sokka._ She rolled her eyes and formed her earth bending stance. "Don't make me earth bend you through the roof, meathead."

"Argh!" Sokka rubbed his head in frustration, "say yes, or I'll follow you!" he hit the table. It's an ultimatum. Toph can only choose between a friendly company and a creepy stalker.

She let out a sigh, threw herself on the chair, and covered her face with her hands, "fine. Follow me. I don't care." She went to her room and slammed the door. _Why did he insist to come with me? I can do everything myself. Maybe except the fire… but put that aside and I can still carry my own weight! Spirits! _She threw herself to her bed and put her pillow over her head. _Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!_

* * *

The water bender walked back and forth in the room, making a speech for her brother. "I can't believe what you just said! You know we're only here for a week and then we're back to the South Pole! What will people say if you don't come back with us? What will father say?"

"But I can't watch Toph go there all alone!"

"How about your responsibility in the South Pole? You are going to be the chief!"

"So why can't I have a holiday? Not like I'm going to a super dangerous self-killing journey with monsters along the way!"

Katara silenced. Desperate, she pulled the nearest chair to her and sat down. Aang approached the girl and put his right hand on her shoulder. "We can't do anything to stop him, Katara. I want to escort Toph too," he turned to his friend, "but I can't because the situation after the war isn't really good right now."

"I want to help Toph too… but one of us needs to take care of our tribe… Sokka, why can't I go? Why only you could go?"

"Aang needs your help, sis. And you've got some healer classes to teach, haven't you?" a smile grown at Sokka's face, kindness glowing in his eyes. "Besides, I'm not sure you can be with Toph for so long. " He shrugged.

"We've gotten along already!" Katara protested. She pulled her chair and continued her lunch.

Her brother forked another piece of fish and shoved it into his mouth, "I must say, this grilled fish is delicious!"

* * *

A girl sat on a wooden chair with mint green cushion. Her chin rested on her left hand, which she put on the armrest. She tapped her feet alternately, and then turned her head, calling for her main maid, "Madame Chen."

A middle-aged lady rushed to the owner of the voice, "yes, Miss Bei Fong?" she stood beside the girl and lowered her body.

"I've told you thousands of times, call me Toph." not in the mood of arguing, she continued without giving the lady a moment to reply her order. "Do you know why I didn't get any messages from my friends?"

"Umm… that's…"

"Yes?" Toph demanded the lady to answer her question.

"Umm… I... I can't... I can't answer your question, miss."

"Is there something you're hiding? You're afraid my parents will find out that you tell me the secret?" her eyes looked to the way her maid's standing. She exhaled and closed her eyes, then put her head back on her hand. "Don't worry, my parents won't know this happened. So?"

"Y-your parents asked us to…" Madame Chen stopped for a moment, "they asked us to hide all of those so you won't run away again." she bowed her head.

"I see." Toph nodded her head and smile slightly, "Won't run away, huh?"_ I was just planning on doing so._ She stood up, and walked slowly to the door. _Sometimes having a blabbermouth maid is an advantage._ Suddenly, she stopped. "Oh and where did they hide them?"

* * *

He was sitting on the bridge by the pond in the Bei Fong's garden. His toes were dipped into the water, with his shoes beside him. Dry wind blew his hair, his warrior wolf-tail to be precise. Sweat running through his cheek and his blue tunic stuck to his back. His eyes gazed up to the sky, absorbing the beautiful colors of sunset, thinking.

There are two people for whom he was very protective to, besides his tribe. First, Katara. She is his little sister, so there's no wonder. Second, Toph. He doesn't even know why he was so protective toward this girl. Maybe it's because of her size. It's so small. And she looks very fragile, especially when she was wearing her petticoat dress. It's like just one touch, and she'll break into pieces. He knew she was nowhere near fragile. Toph was the most amazing earth bender he had ever met. Still, something inside him wants to protect this tiny girl.

"Sokka."

He opened his eyes, seeing a girl behind him. "Hi Katara."

"Why are you here?"

"I've just finished practicing." He lowered his head, now facing the pond in the garden. It was beautiful. There were a few pink lotus flowers floating between their big round leaves. Some black and white koi fishes were swimming around them, reminding him of the Spirit Oasis at North Pole. "I need to practice with this sword again, you know. It's been a year before Aang brought back my sword. My hands aren't used to fight with straight sword anymore." He pouted.

Katara sat beside him, and then patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry your boomerang was nowhere to be found, Sokka."

"Yeah. The truth is, it doesn't always come back."

"Uh, that reminds me." she stood up and pointed her finger to the house, "sorry, got to go."

He waved his hand, as he got up and wrap his swords and blades. Yes, he had learned to chi block with Ty Lee, and knife throwing with Mai when team Avatar, including Uncle Iroh, was still staying at the Fire Palace. In the first five months after the war, all is great. No conflicts, no issues, all in peace. But after a year, when Sokka has just begun learning to use dual swords with Zuko, problems began to show up.

There are a lot of meetings, causing the gang to separate. Sokka was handling the situation in Southern and Northern Water Tribe. Aang, being the Avatar, he was the most busy of them all, even though he was just thirteen. Luckily, Iroh helped him a lot of times, so the problem was finally eased until now. Katara had started teaching water bending and healing class in South Pole, and Toph went home because she didn't want to interfere in political problems.

The boy then carried all his weapons and head back to the main house where he'll be staying.

* * *

"TOPH! Get up and take a bath! Spirits! I can smell you from outside your door! How long have it been after the last time you showered?" Katara shook her friend's body. "It's a new day already!"

"What is it, Sugarqueen?" she rubbed her eyes, and continued, "It's still dawn. I still want to sleep." She rolled into her blanket.

"It's morning already! GET UP NOW!" ordered the older girl as she pulled her friend's cover. Toph opened her eyes and grumbled.

"I'm up… I'm up…" she threw the dust off her body and stood semi-consciously.

"Go to the bathroom, now! Take a shower!" she pointed to the bathroom with her other hand on her hips. Toph staggered to the bathroom and slammed the door.

"AND USE THE SOAP!"

* * *

Toph squeezed her long, black hair, and grumbled to herself, "Why did I do what sugarqueen told me before?" she walked out the bathtub, "Mom has gone for a month and I'm finally having fun since I got back to this house. I'm the boss in this house, not her! I can wake up as late as I want!" her feet scanned the bathroom, searching for her towel. "Spirits! No towels?" she gasped, and walked in circles, frustrated. "Now how can I get out of this room?"

The blind girl scanned her house with her feet, searching for any of her servants to get her a towel. _Where's madame Chen, where's miss Ling, where's madame Hung? _She thought. Oh look, that's _Katara and Sokka eating. _Her stomach rumbled. She scowled. _That's not fair! I haven't eaten anything since I woke up! Wait… hey! That's Ling! What's she doing in the living room?_

She stomped her right leg and the ground beneath Ling's feet cracked. Then before she could even blink, something behind her tossed her forward. It seemed that the servant girl understood what was happening to her, and she ran towards her master's room.

"Miss Bei Fong?" she panted, trying to catch her breath. She searched the room for the only earth bender in this house.

"I'm here, slow poke," said a voice in the bathroom, "get me a towel."

* * *

"Where's twinkletoes?" asked a girl at the door.

"He went to the south pole this morning, attending a meeting with Bato and my father. Why?" answered a water bender who was sitting on the couch in the living room.

"nothing." The blind girl stepped into the dining room. A man pulled the chair at the edge of the table for her.

"Where's snoozles? Wasn't he here with you just now?"

"Practicing, I guess." Katara took another spoon of rice to her bowl. "Why did you care anyway?" she laughed silently.

Toph ignored her question, "okay. Now tell me, WHEN did sparky propose to Mai?"

"3 months ago. At her home. And don't ask me how, I don't know either. By the way, what are you going to wear at their wedding?"

"Um…" the earth bender wondered for a while, "I don't know. There's a plenty of dresses in my closet. I'll pick one of them later."

"Why don't we go shopping? Come on, Toph, it's our friend's special day! We can't just wear our old dresses!"

_Oh no. Sugarqueen's girly side is coming. I hate this topic._ "Whatever. You go and pick one for me, I'll just stay here."

"No way! You will be coming with me too. I can't get the perfect dress for you if you're not there. You need to try it first. I'll decide if it fits or not for you."

"Fine, sugar." She took another bite to her mouth. "Just make sure it won't be long."

"Why did you always call me sugar queen?"

Her lips formed her "Blind Bandit" smirk. "And why did you need to know the reason?"

Katara pouted. After about ten minutes, Toph was putting her chopsticks down when both her hands were suddenly pulled by her friend. The teenage girl dragged her outside the Bei Fong estate and there they were. In front of a shop in Gao Ling. At the entrance, it had a wooden sign with "蓮花服飾店" (LianHuaFuShiDian/Lotus Clothing Shop) on it. The interior of the shop itself was decorated by wood which were carved in such a way to make it look like lotus flowers. They went in and Toph immediately searched for any seat available.

"Okay. Now wait here, I'm going to pick you a dress, so don't go anywhere." Katara warned her friend, she ran towards a pile of dresses and picked a bunch of them.

"Too much."

"Too big."

"I bet I can't even walk in this stuff."

"Oh yeah, this one's pretty good."

"Too short."

"Is this even a dress?"

"Too long."

"Too little."

"Who's going to wear that thing?"

"This one's perfect!"

"Come on, Toph, try these dresses!"

_Must I?_

* * *

A dart flew, cleaving the air. It stuck at the center of something small and round, made of wood. He made it from a broken branch he found in the morning. He sliced it around five centimeters wide and carved some circles on it. He made an "x" right on its center to be his target. Then he tied the target board and hung it at the trunk of a tree.

This time, a throwing knife was dropped into his hand. He extended his arm and released the sharp, brown handled silver thing, which flew right to the center of the target. A grin started to grow at his face. Suddenly, a bird crashed the board from the side and his knife hurt the little bird's upper chest, near its neck.

"Man, I almost get the center again this time. Ten in a row! That's going to be my best record in the history of me throwing knives. Poor bird. That's the consequences of interrupting someone's practice, birdie birdie." He then lifted the knife, and blood splattered all over his hand, "this is exactly why I hate it when something was stabbed right at its heart." He took the bird into his palms. He rubbed its belly, as he looked around, searching for her sister. "It's so sad I hit your vital area. Don't worry, buddy, you'll be a delicious dish."

He went into the house and walked through the corridor cautiously. The dim light from the windows along the corridor was causing him some trouble crossing it. Both the walls and the floor were made of earth, but strangely colored in pale green. He went through a hole which led to the kitchen located at the right side by the end of the corridor.

"Excuse me, can you cook this?" he asked a middle-aged lady dressed in white and green. She looks friendly, with her brown eyes and grey, long hair.

She answered with a friendly smile, "of course. You hunted this, young man?"

"It was an accident!" he placed his hands in front of his chest. "Ah, I need to do something, please excuse me," he walked a few steps, and turned his head for a second, "oh, and thank you."

"Anytime."

He went into his room, took his bag from the closet, and unloaded it. There are his bone club, machete, jaw blade, darts, two metal fans, throwing knives, jian sword (space sword), katana, wolf armor, paint, small note, pen, tent, sleeping bag, water pouches, spare clothes, small bags, and a lot of other things.

Bone club, useful for making enemies pass out, but heavy.

Machete, sharp, useful for daily activities.

Jaw blade, for cutting things easily.

Darts, for both short and long distance attacks, easy to prepare, fast, great for surprise attacks, frequently invisible, guaranteed accuracy, but not very efficient.

Metal fans, light-weighted, effective for blocking attacks and turn them against the attacker, especially the ones with blades.

Throwing knives, for both short and long distance attacks, they have similar functions to darts, but more effective and more visible.

Jian sword, light, sharp, flexible, stylish, extraordinarily durable,

Katana, a longer version of jian sword, superior in range than jian, but harder to use.

Wolf armor, very functional for protection for the head.

Paint, obviously for warrior paint.

He decided to put his bone club, machete, paint, water pouches, tent, sleeping bag and small bags into his backpack. Darts and throwing knives were put into holsters fitted on his forearms. He tied his space sword to his belt, along with his metal fans, just in case for defense, and one water pouch.

He added several things, and suddenly a thought struck him._ Wait a minute. A tent? Why did I even bother to bring a tent? My companion is the greatest earth bender in the world, and she can bend even hundreds of tents in a second! _He took out his tent and place it on his bed.

All set.

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

Please enjoy this story. This is my first attempt to write in English after finishing several stories in my first language.

This chapter is actually a part of chapter 1: The Marriage. But I thought it was too long so I cut it in not-so-perfectly half. (I struggled for days thinking of this chapter's title.)

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story. Enjoy!


	3. Mud and Trees

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 3

"Mud and Trees"

Part 1

* * *

She could feel it. Something big and heavy was in her garden. It's furry, or maybe very fluffy, from the silhouette she saw by her feet. It roared.

"Twinkletoes' here!" she punched Sokka's upper arm, while Katara jumped out of the couch right away. Sokka stood up and held his hand to Toph, who refused to receive the help given to her.

"Hey all," Aang said with his right hand scratching the back of his bald head, "today Katara and I are leaving."

"Wow, that's fast," said the blind earth bender, "you've only been here for five days!"

"Well… I've got a meeting at Ba Sing Se, and Katara need to get back to North Pole too. We're going to the same direction, so we'll go off together. If I go there first then he come back to get Katara, Appa will be too tired, right, buddy?"

He roared in agreement.

"It's so hot here, I'm going in." Toph headed back to her house, followed by Sokka.

"Aang, did you get what I told you?"

"Yup. You gave me a hard time searching it. Why did you want to keep it secret, by the way?"

She smiled at his question, "it's a gift."

* * *

"You're not going to leave right now, are you?" Sokka asked with a worried face.

"Yeah, stay here for a while. The meeting's tomorrow, relax." Toph said as she used her chopsticks to pick up some dumplings, "right, snuzzles?"

"What-?" Aang looked at Katara, who's looking at him too. She shrugged her shoulders, and the avatar continued, "Uh never mind. Yeah, the meeting is tomorrow. But I don't want to wake up in the dawn just to catch up with some meeting."

"But you can always send someone to represent you, to be your "eyes and ears" or something!" suggested Sokka.

"Well, who do I trust enough to be my "eyes and ears" beside you, Katara, Toph, Uncle Iroh, Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki?" he answered, "I've lost my air nomads friends too…"

Katara put her hands on his shoulders, and then hugged his neck from behind.

"And you all have your own business too," continued the nomad, holding the hand on his shoulders. "So yeah. We're going now, or at noon, at least."

"Now that's better." The water tribe man threw his fist to the air, and pulled Aang into the house. "So let's eat! I'm starving!"

The two girls watched them for a while, and Toph broke the silence, "Katara, I want you to do me a favor."

_Wow. She's calling me with my name. _"What is it, Toph?"

"I want you to take my dress and other things to Ember Island. I can't bring that things through the journey, it will be too heavy for me. I've packed them into one bag in my room, so you can easily take it."

Katara smiled, "no problem."

"Thanks, Sugarqueen."

* * *

They were once again in the Bei Fong's garden, this time at the north-east part of it. Aang was climbing up to his beloved bison, and lifted their belongings to its saddle. Katara was hugging Toph, who looked uncomfortable with the way her friend bid farewell.

"Sokka," she took something from the stuffs and stood before her brother, "I've got something for you."

He looked surprised with his curious eyes. She continued, "When we got back to the South Pole, I asked Bato to find someone who can make boomerangs. I was going to give it to you as your birthday present, but because you may need this for your journey, I asked Aang to bring it from the South Pole as he went there yesterday, after we talked at the pond. So, here it is." She handed the teenage boy a simple brown box.

He opened it. The boomerang inside was not the same with the one his father gave him. This one was darker, but the rest was just the same.

"T… t-thank you, sis!" he began to dance around his sister, and crushed her into a big tight hug, "have I said that you are the best sister ever?"

"Yes, yes, pretty much." She patted his back, and climbed up on Appa, "now, when you're with Toph, don't do anything stupid, or embarrassing, or other silly things! If I ever heard unpleasant things about you two, you won't be alive after Zuko's party."

Toph answered immediately, "We make no such promises."

Sokka formed a peace sign with his hands, and then he opened all the rest of his fingers and waved to his friends.

"Bye, see you at Ember Island!" she waved back, "Oh, and no scamming this time!"

"Still not promising!" answered Toph with a huge grin. "Bye!"

"So what are we going to do now?" Sokka turned to his friend.

"I don't know. I'm going to prepare my things for the journey. You?"

"Nah, I've done that before. I'll make the journey's plan then."

"You're going to make a master schedule again?" she grimaced, "don't take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time again! That's disgusting!"

"Hey! It's much more efficient that way! That one's a good plan!"

"I shouldn't have agreed for you to come with me."

* * *

"Did you hear what Toph said?"

"That snuzzles one? Yeah."

"You know what that means?"

"Yep."

"Something is going on with those two."

"I know, I know. They're suspicious."

"Are they…?"

"Maybe. But if they do, would you approve them?"

"Toph is boyish, stubborn, independent, direct, and love to boss around. But she actually has a good heart, she can take care of herself, she's confident and sometimes sweet. She has a soft side inside her too, they can get along, and both are sarcastic. So, I guess, yes."

"If you do, then I will too."

"You are too indecisive to be the avatar, aren't you?"

They both giggled, and continued their small conversations in the sky.

* * *

"Now I can see how bad your drawings are! Finally!"

"Hey! My drawings aren't that bad!" Sokka said as he drew on the ground with a broken stick.

"Don't praise yourself. Everybody said so." She said that with a little giggle tone in her voice. "How did you come up with that idea?" she turned her head, remembering what just happened in her room.

"_Why are you here, meathead?"_

"_How did you know I'm-! Sorry."_

_Toph nodded her head, and waved her hand with a hint of ignorance._

"_Uh, I'm going to tell you about the plans to get to Ember Island, I've made them on this map."_

_She opened the door of her room, "how are you going to do that anyway?" she moved her hand up and down in front of her face._

"_Oh yeah…" he raised his hands and looked at the map for a while, then grinned, "You can see if draw them on the ground, right?"_

_The girl looked surprised. Then she lifted an eyebrow and walked out of her room, "yeah."_

She closed her eyes, "that's a good one."

"I know!" he finished the last scratch of the map, "finished!" He made an "x" at the bottom of the sketch. "We're here," then he made an "x" on the middle left, "and Ember Island is here."

"We're going to take a far turn from Gao Ling, then go to Omashu. We'll-!"

Toph interrupted the young man's explanation, "why must we take a far turn?" she took the stick out of Sokka's hands, and made a scratch from Gao Ling to Omashu. "It'll be shorter this way. We'll save more time too."

"That's the swamp, Toph."

"It's just a swamp. It's made of mud and trees, what's wrong with that?" she hammered the stick to the ground as she shrugged.

"Well, I don't believe it either, but Katara and Aang thinks that that place is mysterious and sacred. I think it's just because we're exhausted at that time, so we had weird visions. But it's dangerous."

"Don't tell me you're scared, snoozles!" she laughed at her friend.

"Am not!" he crossed his arms.

"Whatever, I don't really care about the plan anyway. You're the plan guy, just lead me there and I'll be fine." She turned back to the house, "and your drawing sucks. I almost forgot to say that. "

* * *

The sky was clear and the sun was now set at the top of the sky. A breezing wind embraced their cheeks, as a girl, who was standing at the gate, spoke to her servants. "Tell my parents that I'm going to my friend's wedding, don't worry about me, I'm with the avatar. Okay?"

"Yes, Miss Bei Fong."

"So I'm the avatar now?"

"Shut up." The girl grinned, "If I didn't say that my parents would order a group of men to come along with me."

* * *

Birds were chirping to each other on the trees, as sunlight hit their white shining feathers. Wind blew a bunch of fallen leaves along with dirt covering the soil of earth. It was dry. So dry that it hurt the fair skin belongs to a fine little girl who's walking with her companion.

"Man, I didn't think it will be this exhausting. I think my water pouch is half emptied by now. I'm so glad we're not going through the desert. Toph, would you mind slowing your steps?"

"You're tired already?"

"No… something's wrong with my brace. Maybe it's the screw." He stopped and examined the metal on his lower leg. The girl removed one of her backpack's straps and let it hung at her right inner elbow. She opened its cover and took a brown coat with a little gold touch at some various parts, and wore it. She turned to the teenage boy, "come on, slow poke."

* * *

"Whoa. I feel something down there. Is that the swamp you're talking about?"

"Yeah. You don't feel anything strange, right?"

"No." her lips formed a grin. "Meathead is scared. So not manly."

"Shut up!"

They walked along the river. Toph could feel that there are more and more trees along the way, so she assumed they were at the swamp.

"It is really wet down here. The soil isn't even comfortable to walk."

"It isn't comfortable even with shoes!"

"For me, shoes are not comfortable in the very first place." She shrugged.

He smiled. This is one of the things that made the girl beside him special. She is a living oxymoron. A blind, fragile, tiny girl, with a petite figure and fair skin without any scratch, yet she is the greatest earth bender, the one who discovered metal bending and a tough, independent woman.

He looked up to the sky, noticing that it is dark enough for the stars to shine brightly. "Maybe we should set a camp here, Toph."

"okay." She said as she dropped her baggage, which shocked the boy beside her. She made up an earth tent and put her things inside it. Then she punched the ground and both the ends of her tent closed.

Sokka glanced at her tent as he got into his sleeping bag, and whispered, "good night."

That didn't get an answer.

Sokka opened his eyes; he felt something fell onto his right eye. _It's just a rain drop._ He thought, removing the water on his face. He looked up, feeling something is wrong. Wait a minute! _This isn't the place I slept before! _He looked around. _Toph. Toph! Where's Toph?_ Her earth tent wasn't beside him anymore. It's replaced by a big tree.

He crawled out of his sleeping bag. His hands searching for any weapon that may left with him. "Boomerang. Well, that's good but I need something more. Good thing I wear a brace." He said as he took his darts from the brace, and put it back in its place.

He ran through the swamp, slicing all things that covering his sight with the sharp side of the boomerang, until his eyes found his footprints on the ground. "Thank Yue it doesn't rain tonight." He dashed along the trail he left, jumped at every obstacle and kicked a few frogs on his way.

_Oh no. _He thought_. I'm wrong. I'm at the outer part of the swamp. _He then went back and followed the trail, until he reached his last camp place. His equipments were still there, but shattered all over the place. He took his sword and gathered all his belongings.

_Weird_. He knocked at the tent and lowered his head, looking into the tent. Empty. There's her things inside, but she wasn't seen anywhere. _I remember Toph closed her tent. Why one end is left open? _His finger traced the mark on the ground, just in front of the tent. _Earth bending trace. As much as I know, there are only water benders around here. Even if there's any earth bender around, there isn't any struggling sign, so either she sleepwalked, hypnotized, or she left for something._

Sokka put his things together in the tent, and walked along Toph's footsteps. It stopped at the river. There's still no other sign of Toph anywhere.

Now he felt something wet and weird and slimy on his feet. He looked down, and immediately he pulled his sword and slashed the moving slippery green vine.

"HUU!" he shouted, "stop it, buddy! No need to scare me! I'm Sokka, remember?"

A screech came out of nowhere.

"HUU! DUE! THO!"

Another terrifying screech answered his cry. He saw a white bird perched on a branch of tree by the corner of his eyes, and smacked the fluffy thing with his machete.

"COME ON GUYS!" He started being cautious. "NOT FUNNY. SERIOUSLY."

He looked around once again, and noticed something at the side of the river. It looked like someone had sat there for a while. At its left, there were footsteps, a small one. Judging from the deepness of the footprints, the walker is limp. The left footprints were deep and very noticeable, but you could barely see the right ones. He was sure it was Toph's, since her feet are very small.

After a few meters, the tracks suddenly stopped. The last one looked like the owner was pushed to the left, so Sokka tried to see if there's anything or hopefully anyone on the left.

A vine touched the top of Sokka's head, making him jumped at the feel of the slimy thing.

"Oma! I knew I shouldn't go here at the first place!" he cried. "And Toph is hurt too… she won't be able to earth bend that way." He sighed, and smacked his forehead, "That's one more reason to search for Toph faster."

"Just how could I find a girl inside this huge marvelous gigantic, no… titanic swamp?"

He messed his hair in frustration, thinking about the possibility that he will not be able to see his best friend again.

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

I know. Short one. Sorry. I need to make sure I updated all my stories before school started. Next week, vacation is over, which means I can't update as often as I am now because I can only touch my computer on weekends.

A little information for those who don't know, I had asked JustThisGuyYouKnow's permission for the idea of this story. And I had promised the similarity will end as soon as they get on the road.

And thank you, thank you for all of you who had added this story to their favorites and alerts, and those who had reviewed my story and especially to people who added me to their author alerts and favorites. Those have brightened my day.

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story.

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

The adventure starts! Oh Finally.  
Ah, try searching "snuzzles", by the way. I didn't write it like that without a purpose when it's supposed to be "snoozles".

A little information for those who don't know, I had asked JustThisGuyYouKnow's permission for the idea of this story. And I had promised the similarity will end as soon as they get on the road.

Thank you for all the people who had added my story to their favorites and story alerts, and also those who added me to their author alerts and favorites. And of course, for all who had reviewed my story, thank you very, very much. These meant the world to me.

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story.


	4. Mud and Trees: part 2

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 4

"Mud and Trees"

Part 2

* * *

"Think Sokka! Think!" he furrowed his eyebrows, thinking hard, with his right hand kneading his temples, and the other swinging around protecting himself from weird things. "It's Toph Bei Fong! If, just if, she walked to the river, and sat at its edge for a while, then limped to another direction, and then she's suddenly gone, where would she be?

"Abducted by the swamp tribes… not possible. They won't stand a chance against her. Drowned in the river? She can't swim. But no, her last step is swept to the left, its direction is against the river. GAH!" he jumped, realizing a vine was snaking up his body. He tucked his sword in, and sliced it from the inside out.

He brushed his finger onto his lips. Then he realized something. _The vines._ _Their roots and stems don't make any vibration, therefore Toph won't be able to detect them. If it were those vines, then I don't have a choice. I don't know where they're taking her, nor do I know if she's okay. She's gone because I didn't protect her. I should've stayed awake all night, knowing the consequences of this place. Being dragged by some creepy stuff and left her alone in the dark, that's extremely possible, wasn't it? _He smacked his forehead, mourning his mistake.

His legs walked back to the river, looking for any other clue that he may missed at the first sight. His hands didn't hang around freely; his right hand swung his sword and his left was swinging his machete along the way, internally blaming the swamp for kidnapping his friend. He felt that it wasn't the swamp's fault though. He thought that it's his. He agreed Toph to come to this place, even after he knew how horrible it is.

Then he heard something. There was someone laughing. So free, so happily. He looked around, and noticed a little girl with black hair in a thick white mist. "Toph." He whispered softly in relief.

After that, everything was beyond his control. His legs were running at a speed he didn't even knew he could've done. His hands swayed everything he saw. His face was so bright, like a little girl who had just found her long lost teddy bear. Sweat was running through his hair, drying because of the wind which rushed to his face. _I found her! I thought… I thought…_

He tucked his weapons into his belt. His arms spread. His legs move faster and faster every second. He took the girl's shoulder and turned it around; he was going to hug her. "Toph! I thought you're gone…"

It was a rock. A big, grey rock. He stepped back, disbelief was drawn on his face. Then his memory ran across his mind.

He remembered being dragged by a vine, being watched by a lot of glowing eyes, and most of all, seeing Yue. Those visions were terrible. He knew that he missed Yue terribly, but seeing her again, even though it was just an illusion, made him suffer and heartbroken once again. And there he was, experiencing the same thing like before.

_You're lucky you're blind, Toph. You won't see weird visions like these._

* * *

"This place is definitely, undeniably, unquestionably, strange!" she grumbled as her hands clobbered a bunch of green vines which tied her body from her chest to her hips. "What is this 'freakish' thing?"

She felt heavy mist around her, making her hard to breath. She felt the tension of the air, the dampness of the atmosphere. Toph clawed and scratched, trying to get away from the thing wrapping her. That's when she heard a scream. Women and children cried in unison. She could feel the fright and fear in it.

The sound was from far above. She heard ropes being pulled, and cages creaked as they moved. She heard people trying to break free. They whacked the cage horrendously. Their teeth collided with metal. She heard a woman yelled, comforting her children, even though everybody could notice the horror in her voice. It seemed that the woman and her children were separated. There was no sanity here. Only terror and panic filled the air.

And she heard something. There were three, no, four people walking in heavy steps, approaching her.

"Who are you people? What did you do to them?"

"Shut up, girl." A man said in front of her. He gritted his teeth and punched his hands with each other a few times.

"Who do you think you are that you feel you're dignified enough you could order me around?" she pointed to where the voice came.

"Lock her up." She heard a deep and husky voice. It was a male behind her. She tried to turn her head, but something slapped her. "What the?" she rubbed her cheek, it was slimy.

She felt her body was pressed. She screamed, but her lungs were nearly out of air. It sounded more like a screech. "What, in the name of Oma and Shu, are you doing? Stop it! You're going to tore me into half!"

She screamed in frustration. Accidentally, she bit the tip of a vine. It stiffened, and quickly fled away from her. Realizing her only chance, even though it's gross, she must bite the others. When she opened her mouth, getting ready to bite the vines surrounding her, they released her. She shrieked as she fell to the ground.

* * *

Sokka was extremely worried. He had been wandering without any certain direction. He had taken a snack, a bag of blubbered seal jerky, with him. He had been thinking. If the vines really took Toph, then the girl shouldn't have been too far. It would be better and more comforting for him to climb and cling from one tree to another, but after he thought about it, he won't be able to come back to their camping place if he did. There won't be any footsteps. Toph may be able to locate it, but he had assumed that the girl was injured, so he couldn't rely too much on her.

A mole monkey's squeal distracted him from his thoughts. It jumped right to his face and shocked the water tribe boy.

"No-! You… Don't you dare to t-take my food away from me-e!" he struggled with his lack of vision and tried to keep his food away from the insolent little monkey. "Bad mole monkey! BAD mole monkey! Bad boy! BAADD BOY!"

He pushed the monkey's stomach and shoved the hilt of his machete at its torso. The monkey leaped back, but it successfully scratched his right cheek. Stunned of its courage, he stomped his foot to scare the beast away. After it's gone, he put back his machete to his belt and slipped his jerky inside his tunic. Then he rubbed his cheek. His hands covered in blood - his own blood. The scratch was not too deep, but it will obviously left behind a mark. The scar is pretty long too.

It's annoying, of course, to have animals' attentions drawn to him – or his jerky – but Sokka couldn't keep calm if he didn't have food with him. Food is the thing that will keep him in his senses. That's exactly why he ate a lot in his journey with team avatar; he's the idea guy after all.

He saw another mole monkey from the corner of his eyes. He grasped his sword in his hands and stared at the monkey, threatening it away. _I must have entered their lair._ He thought. He's not good at bluffing, so instead of going away from him, the entire monkey around him attacked the teenager together. There were six of them altogether. The first one attacked him from behind, so he elbowed its face, while his other hand drew his sword. One attacked him directly from the front, automatically, his hands moved to cut its stomach a bit. Not too deep to kill him, but not too shallow to not to bleed.

Out of the blue, a web caught him and the monkeys around him. It obviously had taken their attention because they started to abandon his body - or his snack - and bit the web, trying to escape it.

"Lunch!" A lame voice said somewhere around him. He recognized this voice, somehow. And a thought hit him.

"Due! Buddy!" he cried in joy.

"Heeyy why do those monkeys know my name?" Due said, scratching the back of his head.

"It's me! Sokka!"

"Monkeys have names?"

"No, dude. It's Sokka, that boy with the avatar." Someone beside Due said.

"Oohh yeahh." He finally realized. "Why did you play with monkeys, Sokka?"

"I'm NOT playing. They're attacking me." Sokka said, with his sword in his hands, and then he turned to Tho. "Could you get me out of here?"

"No problem, buddy!" Due opened the net, but stopped by Tho.

"If we do that, our lunch will spread!"

"Yeahh." he stood up, "sorry Sokka."

Sokka lowered his head, "it's okay. Just get me out of here, faster the better."

* * *

Sokka took out the jerky out of his tunic and put it back in his bag. He had brought it along with Toph's belongings to the swamp tribe's camp. Tho, who was sitting beside him on a log, offered him a grilled mole monkey's drumstick.

"Thanks buddy," he took the drumstick and started eating it blissfully.

Due was standing beside Tho, blowing the campfire to make it bigger. He let the smoke to burn his drumstick a while more before eating it. "What are you doing here?"

"Just crossing by."

"Alone?"

"I'm actually travelling with Toph, but she's missing right now. Where do you think I'll find her?"

This time Huu answered him, "we can't be sure, but I think the swamp will take her to the center of it, the banyan-grove tree."

"Okay, I'm going there." Sokka stood up and wore his belt again. "I'll take the drumstick wi-!"

Suddenly he turned around. He just heard her voice, or her scream, actually. "That's her voice. But it's so unlike Toph to scream like that." He stopped for a moment. "That must be another vision."

"What if it's true?" a wise man beside him said.

"You mean Toph did scream like that? Don't kid me." Sokka answered him.

"Is that impossible?" Huu asked him.

"Well, she's Toph! She's afraid of nothing, and absolutely nothing can make her scream like that… right?" Sokka said. Now he doubted himself.

"She's a human too. It's normal for her to have fears and scream in fright." This answer made him stunned. That's right. He had always overestimated her. Then, at last, he realized that Toph needed help. He quickly finished his drumstick and ran swiftly to the source of her voice.

"Left us some food, okay? Toph must be hungry," he screamed.

* * *

Toph fell on her back. She tried to put her feet on the ground with her hand rubbing her back, and scanned the area. There was no one. There weren't those four people that surrounded her or the deep voiced man behind her, nor even the people in cages, no one. They just vanished. Gone.

But she felt someone coming. Someone rushed to her in light steps. Her ears heard blades clanging as he ran. _It's him!_

"Sokka! Is that you?" she called. There was joy and relief in her voice. She had tried to hide it, but sadly she didn't make a good job covering it.

_Toph! _He ran faster to his companion and knelt in front of her, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Except for my right heel - it's injured."

"What happened?" he took her foot and placed it on his knee. He cleaned the mud off her feet with his hands.

"I can't sleep. So I went to a river nearby. And, well," she paused for a while and her face flushed embarrassedly, "I kind of slipped into it and when I got up to its edge, something soft and slimy was attached to my heel. I pulled it off, but it dragged a bit of my skin."

"And then? Why did you scream?"

"Ah… I was limping for a while and suddenly something lifted me up. From what I heard, there were people around me, lots of them. There were four people ordering me, and there's this someone that wanted to lock me up. And after that, I bit that crazy thing which lifted me up, and I was on the ground. And yeah, I screamed." She said, looking really uncomfortable, and continued, "When I was finally on the ground, they were gone! Gone like... like whoosh! I-I don't know wh…"

Her voice was shaking. She bit her lower lip, trying to keep her calm; she's confused and scared of what had just happened to her. She felt so helpless up there, until she found a way to free herself out of the dreadful situation. Then after a few while, she continued, "And you came. That's all."

"Hmm… that must be a vision." Suddenly he was stunned when he realized her detail, "you bit that thing? That's..."

"Gross?" She offered.

"Awesome! But yeah, it's gross too."

"That's my only choice! I can't earth bend up there." She pouted.

"And about the people you 'see', I guess they're just visions. I can't believe you also get weird things like these. I mean, considering your... well, you know what I mean." He put her leg down. "Can you walk? Your foot needs to be washed first."

"Of course! Who do you think I am?" her lips grinned proudly as she tried to stand up. Sokka immediately took her hand around his shoulder to support his friend, shifting half of her body weight to him.

It's warm. She could feel his cheek touched hers. She felt the warmth of his body shifting to hers, and how her hands wrapped his neck. She felt how tight he held her hand, not letting her to fall. She loved the steadiness of his beating heart, and how their heart beat together, just like how their steps paced. She could sniff the scent of his body, a perfect mix of sweat and metal, but also something smelt like smoke.

"Did you have smoked beef for lunch?"

"How did you know?"

"I have a nose, you see." she said as she pointed her finger to her nose.

"Of course… yeah, I ate seal jerky and I had smoked mole-monkey for lunch with the swamp tribes." He smiled, and pointed his free hand to his left, "their camp is at that direction, but let's wash your feet first. Then we can eat our lunch with them."

Hearing this, the Blind Bandit punched her best friend's ribs, "that's so unfair! I haven't eaten at all."

They stopped at the edge of the river, and Sokka gently helped Toph to sit beside him. She muttered that she didn't need his help, but accepted his assistance anyway. He took her right feet and dipped it into the water for a few minutes. He let the water to flow through her feet to clean it from the remaining mud he couldn't clean by his hands, and lifted it up.

He grabbed her hand and guided it again to his shoulder, making her heart jumped at the unexpected contact. He then stood up and lifted Toph with him. He did not want to hurt Toph accidentally, so instead of slicing and cutting things up, he thrust aside everything that blocked their ways with his hand.

"Hey, I'm back." Sokka said as he entered the swamp tribe's camp. "Did you leave us any food?"

"Yeah, here." Tho showed them a few stick of grilled meat. "Uh, what happened to her?"

"Long story," Toph waved her hand as she sat down and took a stick from him.

Sokka walked across the fire to their stuffs and searched his bag for any medicine he bought at Ba Sing Se. He slowed down as he walked near Huu, and whispered him thank you, which was replied with a kind smile. Then he took a small brown bag made of paper and rifled its contents. His hands hit a small bottle. He pulled it out, and went back to his friend.

He opened the bottle carefully, not wanting any of it to spill, because it was expensive and hard to get. He was going to pour a little of its brown filling to his palm when Toph stopped him.

"I got this." She took the medicine from his hands, and replaced it with her unfinished food. "Hold this. But don't you dare to eat it."

"I don't want to anyway." He shrugged and extended his hands to get himself some lunch. He watched the blind girl covered the bottle's mouth with her forefinger, and turned the bottle upside down then turned it back, leaving a layer of liquid at the tip of her finger. Her face showed the burning pain she felt as she rubbed her forefinger to the wound. She closed the bottle and put it beside her.

"Here," He offered her stick in front of her face. "Distract your thoughts. It will reduce the pain."

"Just say you're too lazy to hold it any longer." She stuck her tongue out and grabbed the stick harshly, although a smile crept up to her lips.

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

I can't believe I can still post this chapter this week! Oh spirits, I'm so happy.

Thank you for all of you who had added this story to their favorites and alerts, and those who had reviewed my story and once again, to people who added me to their author alerts and favorites. I'm honored.

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story.

* * *

Did you feel there's too much "she heard" in Toph's paragraph? It was on purpose, actually. But if someone thinks it's not good, sorry. ._.

And yeah, I made up that mole monkey. There is no smaller monkey than hog monkey in the avatar world, so I made it up myself. I can't risk the death of Sokka if a hog monkey tried to eat his jerky, can I?


	5. Moon Visits

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 5

"Moon Visits"

* * *

"Buddy, you think you can help us cross this swamp to northeast?" Sokka asked his friend that was preparing his boat for catching some lunch for him and his friends.

"Suuree… why not?" Due answered with a swing in his tone. He's always the swingy type of guy.

He smiled at the answer. He knew they will. The swamp tribes were a bit offbeat but they really were helpful and kind hearted people. They were people who were willing to help their friends even in the darkest moment in their lives. These traits are the lost character of town people, who had been growing more and more selfish every day, every time.

The swamp tribe man threw his net to the boat, and hopped into it. He tapped the side of the boat and smiled ear to ear. Sokka, understanding this, pulled Toph's hand along with him, and got into the boat, guiding her to sit beside him. Her face flushed a bit as she released her hand from his grip, and punched Sokka's arm, hard.

He was treating her like a helpless little girl, but it was a right action. She couldn't see the boat, and therefore she couldn't get in it. She didn't even know what did that punch meant. Either it was a thankful playful punch or a punishment punch. She smiled of the thought, but it disappeared when a drip of water touched her face.

_Oh no here it comes. _She thought as her hands swept the drip from her face, and covered her eyes and her forehead with her palms.

Due raised his hands slowly, and then started spinning his arms, bending the water around him to push his boat. Sokka quickly covered his eyes with one of his hands and blinked a few times to clear his vision. He looked to his companion, and saw how the water rained to her face. Her hands were too small to cover it all. She kept her eyes closed tight even though she's blind and she had her hands covering them. His lips curled upwards and he put his other hand in front of her face, covering all the remaining spots that she couldn't cover herself.

Toph felt something different happened to her. One time, water soaked her face and some even slipped into her mouth. She wanted to throw those away, but when she opened her lips, even more musty water ran to her mouth. So she gave up and shut her mouth tight, preventing any other drip to enter it. And then, it suddenly stopped pouring to her. It's like magic. There was warmth radiating from something that was flying in front of her face. She was going to touch the thing, but then she remembered that it possibly was a wet and filthy swampy thing. She shuddered and discarded the idea. Having them lifted her up, making her blind, is enough for her. She didn't want to experience that again by touching any of them.

There were a few turnings in their way. The seat was slippery, and it caused them to slide aside, falling to each other. Toph stuck her feet between the block of woods that supported the boat, trying not to fall on her friend. Sokka sacrificed the hand covering his face to grip a side of the boat, and that action made his face soaked with water. There were some times when he touched Toph's face accidently and every time that happened, it made Toph jumped.

"We're here!" Due stopped bending when they reached the end of the swamp. Sokka leaped out the boat and offered his hands to Toph.

She tried to get up, but immediately fell back again. "Meathead, I can't get out."

"Then take my hand I'm offeri…" he stopped and cursed himself quietly. _She's blind and she can't feel you inside that boat, you idiot! _He took Toph's hands in his, and pulled her until she stood firmly on the ground.

He turned to face the water bender, and waved his hands, "thank you, and bye Due!"

Due waved him good bye and went to the other side of his boat to get back to his camp. Sokka watched him bended the water as the noise of water splashes slowly faded away. He always admired how fast Due could spin his hands.

* * *

"Toph, I think we should stop here." He said as he looked around, searching anything that could harm them. Then he took a few branches and started making fire. He heard Toph said, "What are you doing?"

"I want to make tea. Argh!" he spin a branch of wood against a bigger one with his hands. "I really wish I were a fire bender." His brows furrowed and his lips pouted. Then after a few minutes, a small spark splattered and smoke came right after that. He smiled, and blew the mini fire he had created to make it bigger. Then he pulled a teapot out of his bag.

"You've been bringing that all the way from Gao Ling?"

"Yeah, I bought it there." He said as he boiled a pot of water he took from the river beside them.

She shook her head. "You're crazy." She lifted her right leg on her left which was tapping the ground. "Oh, and help me heat my food when you've done boiling your tea. I'm sick of eating cold foods."

He raised a brow, "you're asking for my help?"

"Shut up, snoozles. Just do what I said." She said casually as she laid her back down.

Sokka grabbed a bag of tea leaves and scooped it with his palm to the teapot. Then he poured the boiling hot water into it, and closed the lid. He took their food and placed it above the fire a few minutes.

"Mm, jasmine." She stated when her nose recognized the smell from the pot.

"Yeah, Uncle Iroh's favorite." he confirmed. His nose sniffed something in the air. "Toph, I think it's going to rain."

"So?"

"So I'm saying, I don't bring a tent, and I will be wringing wet if it rains. Make a tent for me, would you?"

"Fine." She stood up and got into her earth bending stance. She kicked the ground beneath her and raised her hands, building a bigger earth tent than she usually built. She tossed her bag inside and then walked over to her companion who had finished heating their dinner. "I opened one end for you so you can do your water tribe ritual."

"Thanks. Wait, what ritual?" Sokka asked as his hands divided a branch he didn't use for making fire into half and sharpened them.

"Moon visits. Katara said in the water tribe people always wake up in the midnight and talk to the moon, she said it was your people's ritual."

"Oh… yeah, we do." Sadness filled his eyes when he realized the meaning of Katara's phrase, as he took a piece of thick cloth from his bag and pinned it to either sides of the tent with the small branches. "Anyway, dinner's ready."

* * *

It was Sokka's first time sleeping in an earth tent, even though he had seen a lot of them all the time. The atmosphere was damp and it was pitch black inside, because lights were all blocked with the fabric he had hung on it. The dusty ground he should have been sleeping on was covered with his sleeping bag. He didn't sleep in it; instead he rested on the thick cloth, using it as bedding to comfort his back. He had offered Toph to use it, but she preferred to lie on the ground where she could see.

After he ensured himself that Toph had fallen asleep, he crawled quietly outside and tip-toed to the edge of the river. He sat down and dipped his toes, with his head facing the moon.

"Hey Yue." He whispered, smiling. "Sorry I didn't talk to you last night. Toph had been missing the whole day, I was searching for her, and that's why I was very exhausted. Once again, sorry."

"Toph was so kind to me this evening. That's a RARE event. She knows that I need an end open so I could talk to you. She thought that it's some kind of ritual in our tribe. Katara told her that. There's no such thing as 'moon visits' in my tribe. Well, I don't know about your tribe, is there something like that?" he asked.

"Because in my tribe, there's only me, talking to you in midnights, expressing how I miss you so much. Toph must have been aware that someone was up and stared at the sky when everyone else was asleep. Maybe she asked my sister why I did that every night. And Katara covered my real reason. Now I'm wondering how she did that. Toph can detect lies, you know that?"

He silenced for a while. His eyes were staring at the full moon. "Anyway, you look beautiful tonight. You glow brighter here than in the city. How are you doing in the spirit world? Have you met Heibai? That cute panda had once kidnapped me. Can you believe that? When he's angry, he becomes like some terrifying monster. And I'm not exaggerating when I said monster." He chuckled, and then his face turned serious again. "Yue, I have a favor to ask you. Would you please look out for Suki while I'm not there with her? I really hope she's okay. We haven't met in the few last months, eight to be exact. Maybe I should write to her tomorrow. She hasn't replied my letters; there's four of them. I wonder what is happening in the Kyoshi Island that distract her enough to forget about my letters. Must be something important."

"Sorry to trouble you, but I need someone to look after her, and I know that you're more than capable to take care of her. And I know that I can trust you." He raised his hand as it was reaching to the moon. His eyes filled with sadness, his gaze longing for the beautiful girl he once knew in the North Pole. "I really miss you, you know. Every night, I wish you were here beside me, and we would have fun like before. I miss your laughter. Your gentle eyes. And your soft, silk-like white hair. I remember when I was still travelling the world with Aang, I saw you in the swamp, which I had just left this morning. Well, I need to continue my journey. I'm heading to Omashu tomorrow." he paused, then continued after a minute. "That reminds me, I have to go to sleep now, even though I still want to talk to you. There's a lot of things I wanted to tell you, but I guess you should have known that. You could see me up there, right? Sometimes I wonder if you could see me in daytimes, but I know that you'll always be with me, since you promised me that before. Well, bye then, Yue. Good night, I miss you." He stated his feelings once again, before he stood up and dried his feet. He looked up one more time, then walked to his tent.

He crawled into it and closed his eyes; his mind was drifting into deep sleep.

* * *

He was up. His hands semi-consciously rubbed his eyes and he stood up. Lack of light caused his head hit the 'roof' of the tent in progress. The back of his head thumped in pain, so his hands rubbed it softly. He laid down slowly, avoiding his wound to ache. Accidentally, he kicked the cloth which was covering the open end of the tent, causing bright sunlight to attack his merely unclosed eyes. They popped open and he hurried outside. Alas, what he feared became true.

"Toph. Toph. Get up." Sokka shook his friend's shoulders.

"Shuddup." came a mumbling answer from the girl lying on the ground.

He continued shaking his friend. "It's noon already!" He pulled her hand and forced her to get up. "I overslept. There was no light in here; I thought it's not sunrise yet!"

Toph murmured in reply. She sluggishly got out of the tent when something struck her and she came crawling back to the tent, her hands flailed unsteadily, reaching for her bag. Then she went outside and walked to the nearest fountain which was far enough to block Sokka's view.

Sokka, waiting for his turn of bath, decided to make fire to heat their lunch and maybe brew some tea. He was not the type of man to get up late. His body was very sensitive for any light that indicated a new day. That's how they roll in the South Pole. When he was still living there, he was usually awoke from the light from the igloo's door (which was just a small hole) and waited until his sister got angry and woke him up; only then would he get up from his bed. For the record, beds in South Pole were pelts laid on the ground.

His mind wandered to the last time he was awoken by someone.

* * *

_"Sokka wake up!" a girl's yell beside his ear surprised him. He jumped and fell from his bed, dragging the blanket along with him to the floor. The girl giggled with a hand covering her mouth, hiding her grin._

_"Spirits, Katara." He swept the drool from his face, and struggled to get out of the blanket he was stuck in. "What was that for?"_

_She put her hands on her hips, showing her motherly nature like she usually does every day. "Are you going with us to South Pole or not?"_

_"Wh-? Oh yeah!" he shrieked unmanly. He rushed to the bathroom, and took a quick shower._

_Katara shook her head knowingly with a smile plastered on her face. She had always been with this young man - by age, not his attitude, of course not - since her birth; no doubt she knew perfectly how to wake him up. She sauntered out of his room and got back to her room, to fix her hair and change her clothes to the usual one. She heard a thud from the room next to her. She came out of her room and found the same boy she had just talking to recklessly whack his forehead to the door, now was 'ouch'ing from his carelessness. Laughing, she flicked her fingers to the bruise jokingly._

_He grumbled something unintelligible and with his hands he closed the door he had just smacked his head to. He had changed to his blue water tribe outfit, with his parka dangling on his hands. His shoulder carried a backpack which was holding his weapons, except his missing sword. It was replaced by his katana._

_A younger boy came from the other path of the corridor and grinned widely, visibly amused by the incident. He spread his hands and hugged the siblings, and together they went to the garden, meeting the people who had been waiting for them._

_One of the people, the oldest one, waved his hands in front of the others, informing them that Aang, Katara, and Sokka had come, at last. Suki chuckled as Sokka hugged her, not the bone-crushing one like Katara did to Mai. He then glanced to everybody one by one, and asked, "Where's Toph?"_

_"She got back to her parents', remember?" Katara answered, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe you keep forgetting that."_

_"Oh well," he laughed guiltily. "It just feels weird remembering she's not here and that she had the urge to come back to that place a week ago."_

_"Not that long, Sokka." Suki pinched Sokka's cheek softly. "It's only three days ago."_

_"Seriously, I think something's wrong with my memory." He grouched, his hand knocking his head. But the pout on his face turned into satisfied grin when the other laughed._

_Katara embraced Mai tightly, then she turned her head and hugged Zuko and Iroh, receiving a final advice from the wise man, which she replied by a few nods. Her brother bro-hugged Zuko and Uncle Iroh, tapping each other's backs encouragingly. Mai, who nearly didn't move at all, waved a hand for the last time to farewell the water tribe siblings, kyoshi warriors, and the avatar who was escorting them, as they climbed onto Appa. "Goodbye!" Sokka threw a fist to the air as they set off._

_They had decided to take a ride on Appa to South Pole, passing through Kyoshi Island on their way to drop Ty Lee and Suki, for efficiency's sake. It took four days to get to Kyoshi Island, and three days straight to get to South Pole._

_So five days had passed. Although they were a day late from the schedule, they arrived at the Kyoshi Island safely. Katara was the first to bid goodbye by embracing Suki and Ty Lee, followed by Aang who joined the hug. But before they finished, Suki had been pulled by her brother for a special goodbye. "Good bye, Suki." Sokka uttered as soon after their lips parted. Ty Lee playfully hugged Sokka - playful, because she quickly pulled herself away from the boy, knowing his relationship with her leader. Despite her flirty attitude, she was smart enough to know how not to ruin certain situations._

_The Kyoshi warriors got off the huge bison then after final goodbyes, the avatar shouted "yip yip" as they took off to the air._

* * *

_Oh yeah. I was planning to write a letter to Suki yesterday, wasn't I?_ He thought as he blew the fire and added a branch into it. _Her last reply said that she was having some trouble. I wonder if she had solved it. What are Katara and Aang doing? I bet they're attending a boring meeting like always._

He took their food out of the fire and put them beside the tea he had prepared, and got into the tent to take a note and a fountain pen. He was refilling the pen when Toph came walking back with water dripping from her undone hair. She crumpled her unwashed clothes on her lap as she sat casually and reached out for her lunch. The boy sitting across him put down his writing equipment and took his lunch as well.

"What is this thing?" she asked, smelling the thing in her hands.

"Fried sea crab," his voice was shaking, he was opening the shell of his crab, "Katara saw this giant stuff at the market in Gao Ling. She said it's a shame if she didn't buy it. We've never eaten a crab this big, even in the South Pole! So she bought and fried it, and she gave half of it for me; for the journey, she said."

Toph tried gnawing her lunch, but apparently it didn't crack even a wee bit. "So how do we eat this thing?"

"You eat the softer part in it, you see, this white… never mind. Firstly, you need to open the shell. Like…" he took and opened her crab, obviously NOT easily, then returned it into her open hands, "this."

She hummed unconsciously, surprised by the unexpected deliciousness of the soft meat inside the hard, bitter-tasted shell as she chewed it. "I can do it myself, you know. Just saying."

"You're welcome." Sokka responded just as he finished his lunch and then he headed to the fountain, leaving Toph speechless of his incoherent reply.

* * *

"Remember; from now on, you must bring your weapons with you all the time, with no exceptions." A girl announced loudly. "Things are getting worse here. We can't let our guard down."

"But, what if we're having a bath?" a girl smaller than the first asked shyly. She was wearing a full Kyoshi warrior uniform with long black wavy hair.

"That's different." The first girl, who had short brown hair suggested, "But at least you can bring your fans there. Those are the most effective weapon for defending ourselves from blades."

"Y-yes…" she replied with a little shake in her voice.

"That's it for today. Don't forget tomorrow we have to wake up in dawn!" she bowed and then clapped her hands. The others bowed back to her and went outside the practice room. "And oh, Maya, can I have a talk with you for a minute?"

The shy girl froze. She turned around and stuttered, "S-sure, miss…"

"Suki. Just call me Suki." The Kyoshi warriors' leader glanced through the room and waited until everyone beside her and Maya had gotten out. "What's wrong? Did I scare you?"

"N-no! Not at all…"

"Oh, come on. I don't bite." Suki replied with a kind smile. "Be honest with me."

"It's just... I don't know..." Her face went uneasy. Suki gazed at the new girl, trying to understand what had bothered her so much. She had her guesses, but whatever it was, it made her relationship with the other Kyoshi warriors difficult. It's as she had a thick wall all over her, causing her to be completely out of range.

Finally, she patted the shy girl in the head, and bent down a little so she could look her in the eye without intimidating her. "Fine. See you tomorrow."

"Yes... Uh, thank you!" she bowed and hustled outside to her room.

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

You may be bored of me saying this all the time, but thank you for adding this story to your favorites and alerts, and reviewed my story. And one more thanks for you who had added me as your author alert and favorite.

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Comments, critics, suggestions, corrections (especially in grammar), or anything related to the story are welcome. Just click the review button!

Thank you for reading this story.

* * *

So yeah, I reread all my stories and thought, "why did the story's pace is so fast?" so I try to slow it down.

I'm trying to make long chapters, but as you can see, I even need about a day for writing only 1800 words. Sorry. This is my longest chapter ever though. Enjoy!

UPDATE: I uploaded this 1 am in the morning, so the ending of the 'moon visit' sucks. Sorry, I've changed it. Anyway, in my story, Sokka hasn't fallen in love with Toph. He did all that as a good friend, and he was still with Suki. But don't worry, their relationship will change a few chapters later! or I hope so. *evil smirk*

AND NO PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME

I told you it's going to be a 'broken Sukka' right? Sorry, but that means some fluff on Sukka even though I don't ship them and my hands accidentally added a tiny little wee tad bit of Tokka in it.

Anyway, from now on I will update once a week because the school has started. *sigh*

Last but not least, thank you for reading! It's warming my heart to know people were reading my fic, but my heart jumps to the crystal clear sky when someone reviewed my story.

**MORE UPDATE**: I compressed my stories. I combined every two chapters into one, but nothing changed in it though. :)

I really hope I could break 40 reviews with this. Please?


	6. Chapter 6

**Footsteps to the Wedding**

Chapter 6

* * *

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who had reviewed my story. In chronological order, thank you for **FlyingLikeAButterfly, Zane-Ice-Fairy, Justthisguyyouknow, Mango Loves You, I'm. Only. Human. Dude (or preciously known Chipettegirl4life),****Tsubame-go,****The Animanga Girl, Daisy312, LandofMidnightRain, YingYang209, MarigoldxObsidian, Who lit Toph on Fire, Sokka's Fan-Lawyer, xKajarx, Jonquille Theravada and last but obviously not least, an anonymous reviewer**. Thank you for your reviews; you are the ones that encourages me in continuing this story.

From the bottom of my heart, I hope to reach 45 reviews with this chapter.

I love analysis, critics, and feedbacks about the story. So please don't hold back your thoughts, and send your opinions. I can't make a good story with only one mind, which is mine, because it's not enough. A critic, even the hateful ones, will help me building the story.

Okay, off with the story!

* * *

Toph walked back to her camp and found Sokka, already set to go. He had packed all his stuff, and was trying to catch a fish in the river with a branch. "What are you doing?" she asked, sitting at the edge of the river with her legs crossed, "I can see you in the river, but not clearly. The water's vibration is too much for my sight."

"I'm catching-! Ughh! Dinner!" he plopped to the water. "Argh! Appa!"

"Did you just… curse with a bison's name?" Toph raised a brow. Then laughter exploded from the little girl.

He stood in the water, soaking wet, and thought for an answer for her question. Then he finally shrugged, "It just slipped out of my mouth! Appa's name is just… comfortable to say. Don't you think?"

"Don't bother wasting our time and energy, meathead. The city's not far from here, we can buy something to eat later." Toph grabbed her bag and slung them to her shoulders. "Come on," she pointed her chin to northeast direction unintentionally; not that she even knew what northeast was.

"Don't you want to save your money?" Sokka asked, looking confused. He covered his bare chest with his tunic and changed his pants with a new and obviously dry one. He slipped her feet to his shoes and took his pack. After he put out the fire he made the day before, he started jogging, catching up with his companion.

She burst a condescending laugh, as one of her hands pound on her chest while the other pointed to her face, "Save my money? I'm a Bei Fong!"

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, your royal highness." Sokka said jokingly, bowing a little to his companion.

"Correction; your royal awesomeness!"

* * *

A bunch of woman stood in the middle of a huge field, located in the middle of the city's square. Dry wind blew their clothes gracefully, twitching their skin even though they wore make ups. People crowded before them, curious of what they were going to say.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are the Kyoshi warriors. We are here under a request from the earth king to protect this city," a young lady said confidently, causing a blow of whispers flying through the crowd. "I've never heard of them." "What is the earth king's request?" "How could they protect us from horrible people like them?" "I'm not sure they can do this." "They're one of the war heroes!" "The earth king had called them. I'm sure he wouldn't have done it if they can't handle their job."

"Citizens of Omashu," she carried on her speech, "the earth king had asked us to protect you from a group of kidnappers who have been terrorizing this city for, as I've heard, almost three months now. We cannot capture those criminals at once, but we are trying as fast as we can. If we can work together, I am sure they can be caught in no time."

She paused a while, catching her breath, "Survivors of kidnappings will be returned to their families, and the criminals will be sent to face justice. In the mean time, all gates toward and outward the city will be closed, and no one can get in or out of here. Guards and warriors will be put in every corner in this city, and they will report to the earth king if there were any suspicion. I hope you all can contribute with us and bring peace to Omashu one more time."

Claps echoed through the city, implying their agreement. The girl standing in the podium stepped down and brushed her sweat from her forehead, wiping away a part of her white make up with it.

"Great speech, Suki!" Ty Lee welcomed her with a light warm hug when she saw her friend walked towards the Kyoshi warriors. Suki let out a humble smile and replied the hug, then sipped a cup of tea offered by her friend.

"Thank you, girls. Now let's take a little rest, we're going to be on duty tonight, we'll need some rest."

They walked along the road and through the palace gates until they got into the corridor leading to the guest rooms. They split up into 3 rooms consisting 3 people each group. Suki had one room shared with Maya and a girl called Shiro. She had pale pink lips and pale skin. Her brown hair was braided and tied by a white ribbon, with little white trinkets pinned along the braid.

Suki cleaned her makeup, washed her face gently, and changed her clothes. She laid on her bed, curling in the warmness of her blanket. She tried to organize the entire puzzle pieces in her mind. Where would the criminals possibly do their work at, and who would do such a nasty thing like this.

She curled deeper into the blanket. Realizing she couldn't sleep; she wore her slippers and grabbed her fan, just in case, trying to get some fresh air. She decided to stroll around Omashu to get to know its people. When she first arrived here, right after the war, Omashu felt so alive. A lot of noise came from a construction site rebuilding the path King Bumi once destroyed, and demolished the remaining parts of the Loser Lord's 'puking fire' statue. They renovated their mail system and other trivia things that had been broken or destroyed by the war.

But now, there was no sign of sounds anywhere. There were only two or three people on the streets and as the sun reached the west horizon, less people were roaming down the city. Doors were closed, windows were shut, and gates were locked tight. Wind blew dry leaves off their tree, dancing along the road, accompanying a certain warrior girl dressed in cream and green. Birds were singing, swaying a lullaby for the sinking sun.

Suki sauntered the whole city, until she got to the wall gates of Omashu. She exhaled a breath. Once she had ordered the city guards to close them, there was no backing down. She had troubled people of Omashu by forbidding them from getting outside town, even though she did it for their own good.

There was a newly built gatekeeper tower by the side of the entrance wall gates. She made her way to the tall tower as her eyes analyzing the smoothness of its texture. Its construction was really well built. The lighting was adequate; not too dark for an indoor place and not too bright to hurt her eyes. It was impressive that they didn't use any artificial lightning in the day since the windows provided enough already, but in the night, firefly lamps were hung at various places around the tower, glowing soft light that created a harmonious atmosphere.

She walked upstairs and saw a gate keeper, he worked to signal benders to open and close the gates. He wore a cream tunic with green pants and a big, round green hat. A non bender, since he did wear a pair of shoes. Earth benders usually walked around barefoot because they wanted more contact with their element.

"What do you mean I can't pass?!" she heard a girl screaming furiously.

"The city is closed; no one can get in or out of here."

"Listen here, tough guy. Your king there knows us. He will let us in!"

"What she's trying to say is," this man's voice sounds familiar…, "this tiny, little earth bender-"

"Who said that?!" came a disapproving reply from the previous girl. Despite her unfocused eyes was grazing into nowhere in front of her, everyone could see irritation gleaming from them.

He continued, ignoring her, "-here beside me-"

"Yeah, this tiny, little, helpless, fragile, blind earth bender here beside you is going to whoop your butt!" she heard a whacking sound of a fist collided with a palm.

"-is going to whoop my- I mean!" his embarrassment was mirrored clearly through his voice, realizing his mistake. Toph smirked at his awkwardness, amused. "Sh-she is a friend to King Bumi and so am I, and I believe he will let us pass through."

"No can do, kiddo."

"Sokka?" Suki popped her head out of the window, taking a better look to the traveler and his friend. She grinned widely and waved her hand. This was a surprise. She never knew he would come here. But whatever his intention was, he could help her solve this serial crime. Deep down she hoped he could do it in three days, thus she could save the next victim and arrest the criminals in time.

"Fan-girl?" the self-proclaimed 'tiny, little, helpless, fragile, blind' earth bender dropped her smirk, which was replaced by a surprised expression.

"Suki!" his eyes gleamed at her presence. What was she doing here?

"I am Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors. Those two are my friends. It's alright to let them through!"

"B-But…"

"NOW!" Toph acted as though she was on command. Her domineering and bossy attitude came naturally after all. Besides, the situation supported her authority. With Suki's permission, the man had no right to prevent them from getting into the city. He placed a hand in front of his temple and shouted almost inaudibly, "Yes ma'am!"

He turned around with his eyes closed, having no desire to look at Toph's smug face and her satisfied grin now. Along with his friends, he kicked the ground and slowly pulled their fists apart, dividing the wall into half. The rumble roared through their ears as the ground quivered, and they saw (or in Toph's case, felt) Suki at the other side with a smile plastered to her face despite the fact she had just leaped down the gatekeeper's tower, which was thirty feet tall.

Suki rushed to them in desperate need to embrace her old friends. She jumped and wrapped her arms around Sokka's neck, imbalanced the young man. He fell backwards, causing a fit of giggles erupted from his friend, whose feet was planted to the ground and coolly watched the whole incident. A few beads of tears glimmered at the corner of her eyes as she offered both her hands to the couple, slightly shaking from her giggle.

They took her hands at the same time, and she casually pulled them. A sly smirk covered her face as she shook Sokka off her hand and dropped him with a big thud. Suki, who was already standing beside her, laughed heartily and helped her grumbling boyfriend up. Sokka shot a glare at Toph, only to realize how useless it was. He huffed, pouting.

"So," Suki began, clinging to Sokka's arm, "what are you two doing in this city?"

"Long story short," Sokka patted Suki's hand, as a reply of her gesture, "we're going to Zuko and Mai's wedding."

Suki giggled, "I see." She enjoyed his company; it had been eight months from the last time she saw him. His hair had grown longer and his face was not smooth anymore. A few strands of hair grew out of his chin and his moustache was visible. She rubbed his jaw; it felt funny to her soft skin. Sokka always shaved his face every other month, keeping it clean for Suki's liking. She could bet all her money that Sokka would shave it tomorrow, if not tonight.

Toph took her meteor bracelet off her right arm and bent it into different shapes, trying to look nonchalant like she always did, ignoring a twinge panging in her chest. "I'll redirect that question to you, fan-girl. And how are things in Kyoshi Island? All okay?"

"Everything's wonderful. Nothing much changed after the war, just a few renovations here and there," she confirmed, smiling, "me and some of my friends moved here by earth king's request, even though three of us were still there to protect our island."

She took a long breath, as though she was going to tell a fairytale. "So, about two weeks ago a letter came from King Bumi. He said the city was in danger, and he needed someone who he can trust. Yes, I know, he may seem like an ordinary old crazy man, but his brain is excellen-"

"I know! Beyond average, it is." Sokka cut her off, but realized his mistake immediately by a glare shot by Suki. He smiled sheepishly and backed off, letting the warrior girl to continue.

"People had been missing these days. At first, King Bumi wasn't really aware about this crime, but later he found out that this is a serial kidnapping. We-"

"Is there any clues? Any evidence? Tracks? Anything that leads to the crime or maybe even better, the criminals? Is- okay, okay, I'm sorry. Don't glare at me like that. It's scary, Suki. But seriously, is there any?"

Suki let out a sigh. With a little eye roll, she opened her hands and side hugged both her friends, pulling them to walk faster, "all evidence is in the palace. And the map too."

"I bet you'll be happy to see this, Meathead," Toph remarked as she removed Suki's hands from her shoulders. She never liked to have anyone touching her, let alone hugging her. "You love solving mysteries."

She got a snicker as her answer.

"Sadly, you're accompanying me through this journey. Wait, no, you're following me. As what you said before."

"but-!" he ran into front of Toph, clasping his hands and put the best puppy face he could make, and now walking backwards, "please Toph, please?"

"Shut that face out! I could feel its hideousness; it's giving me goosebumps! And I can't even see!" she exclaimed as she shoved it aside, throwing him off balance. However, his trained legs saved him from falling.

"Oh come on, Toph! For these people's sake!"

"Nah, you just want it because you like it."

"Aawww come onnn!" his begging face set Suki to laugh. He was so cute and childish when he really wanted something.

"Meh, fine." A smirk curled on her lips, while a squeal of joy came from in front of her. Sokka threw his arms to the air, exclaiming his win. But her next words immediately stopped him. "But in one condition: you have to solve this thing. "You're using my precious time - don't waste it."

"Look at who you're talking about! I'm Sokka of the Water Tribe, an expert detective who solved the mystery of Chin's murder and proved Aang's innocence!"

"Who's-? Oh whatever."

_to be continued_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". This story is based on the characters and plot of "Avatar: The Last Airbender".

* * *

Yes. I know. It's pretty short, but school is really keeping me busy right now. It's no excuse though. But I hope you will forgive me and continue sticking with the story.

**Anyway, I don't know what title to put for this chapter. Ideas, anyone? :)**

And as usual, thank you for adding this story to your favorites and alerts, and reviewed my story. And one more thanks for you who had added me as your author alert and favorite. I really mean what I'm saying. Every time anyone favorited, followed, or reviewed my story (or me), my heart leaps up!

Dedicated for JustThisGuyYouKnow.

Grammatical or spelling corrections, advises, plot improvement, everything is welcomed. If you don't feel comfortable posting with your own profile, I'd love to hear anonymous opinions too!

So please don't be shy and help me improve the story!

Last but not least, thank you for reading this story.


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